Mystery suffrage photos spark appeal for information

Thursday, 18 January 2018

A woman hands out pamphlets from behind a Campaign for Better Government stall, ahead of the 1993 electoral reform.

A former Nelson deputy mayor is on a mission to solve a mystery related to suffrage celebrations 24 years ago.

Gail Collingwood has about 700 photos taken during 1993, when centennial suffrage events were held in Nelson throughout the year.

Do you know these women pictured cooking at Nelson College for Girls in September 1993?

'Nelson had a series of events, functions, and happenings throughout the year, all celebrating women's ability to vote,' she said.

For the past 24 years, photos taken during the events have been sitting in Collingwood's hall cupboard.

Three women, as yet unidentified, at a women's suffrage centennial weekend held at Nelson College for Girls in 1993.

'The [organising] committee decided the records and photos would go to the museum, but the museum will only take photos if they are named, and so first of all it was one of those 'too big things'.'

Collingwood was then elected as a Nelson city councillor which 'took over her life' for a number of years. However, this year will mark the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage and it's spurred her to attempt to identify unknown women who appear in the photos.

A 'mystery' woman sells raffle tickets on behalf of Pan-Pacific & South East Asia Women's Association.

'Some of them were easy, and some I was able to ask other people to come and look at them to name, and then some have just proved a bit problematic, but every now and then I'll knock another one off.'

She's hoping by sharing with photos with a 'wider network', those from the region might be able to help her out.

One of the photos proving challenging for Collingwood is of a smiling, grey-haired woman selling raffles on behalf of the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association in Nelson.

'That group no longer exists, so I've asked lots of people if they know anybody who was a member, and I can't find anybody just from my networks.'

Another mystery woman appears to be handing out pamphlets related to the referendum held that year, which brought in a new electoral system.

'We had a vote to say whether we wanted MMP or first past the post, and women set up stalls,' Collingwood said.

The woman is standing behind a stall representing the Campaign for Better Government organisation, which opposed MMP.

She was also hoping to identify two women pictured cooking at the Suffrage Centennial weekend held in September 1993 at Nelson College for Girls. Another, taken at the same, shows three women standing on the school grounds.

Collingwood was pleased with the progress she'd made to-date, with one photo leading back to an farming family who had brought their alpacas to a Richmond Weavers and Spinners event in 1993.

A woman had been pictured with the alpacas, but no one knew who she was.

'I made contact with a woman I knew from Tasman District Council in Takaka and asked her did she know this person or could she put me in touch with the family. She said they lived in Richmond now so I wrote them a letter with the photo,' she said.

One of the family members got back in touch with Collingwood and said the woman had lived with them for a number of years, helping out with the alpacas.

The process of identifying people had been rewarding, and Collingwood was grateful to have networks that had been able to help.

Do you know anyone pictured in the photos? Contact Gail Collingwood on geedeecee@actrix.co.nz.